The excitement of opportunity has become the burden of expectations.

Coming off a breakout 2023 campaign, the Orioles entered this season amid the fanfare of an ownership change and the promise of a roster built around a budding, young core.

The club introduced David Rubenstein, who purchased the team from the Angelos family in January, with a news conference on opening day when he heralded the transition as a “new chapter,” offering unbridled optimism that the Orioles’ promising future had arrived.

Three months in, he appeared to be right. The Orioles were one of MLB’s best teams. Splashy offseason trade acquisition Corbin Burnes performed as advertised and shortstop Gunnar Henderson emerged as one of the sport’s best players.

Then, the script was flipped.

Injuries piled up. Four starting pitchers underwent season-ending surgery. Key reliever Danny Coulombe and infielder Jordan Westburg missed several months. The offense, even with the infusion of top prospects Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo, struggled to find a rhythm and ultimately proved to be their downfall in the postseason as the Kansas City Royals swept them in the American League wild-card round Wednesday.

“Injuries, I’m going to keep bringing that up,” manager Brandon Hyde said in his end-of-season news conference Thursday. “That isn’t an excuse, however, from a season standpoint because other teams go through injuries also.

“When we won 101 games last year, there [were] a lot of injuries in our division, and this year, it felt like we had our share. But I thought we overcame them as well as we possibly can.”

The Orioles now enter a pivotal offseason seeking answers for why they haven’t yet made a deep run into October.

Executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias announced Thursday that Hyde will resume his post in 2025 and that he expects Rubenstein to be willing to invest more in the team’s player payroll, which was among the lowest in MLB, for next year.

Decisions regarding the rest of Hyde’s staff, including the hitting coaches who drew the ire of fans for the team’s lousy offense down the stretch, will be made in the coming weeks.

“The expectations, I think, from this season were different,” Elias said. “We didn’t meet them. We all feel that. And it has applied a different kind of pressure that is new for a lot of people in this building. The big leagues can do that to you. I am optimistic, bullish. I believe in this group going forward. But it’s not just going to happen automatically. We’re going to have to put in the right work this winter.”

With several players on expiring contracts, the Orioles must decide how much they’re willing to spend to keep their roster intact. Burnes is expected to be among the top free agents available this winter and command a massive nine-figure contract.

Outfielder Anthony Santander, who led the team with 44 home runs, will also be eligible to sign with other teams after spending his entire eight-year MLB career in Baltimore.

They will also have to weigh the importance of extending the contracts of some of their young stars such as Henderson, Westburg and catcher Adley Rutschman to long-term to ensure they’ll spend their prime years hitting in the middle of the Orioles’ lineup. Outfielder Colton Cowser, a favorite to win the AL Rookie of the Year Award, made a case for an early extension as well.

“This is what, I think, Baltimore’s been waiting for,” Elias said of Rubenstein and his partners. “They’re smart, they’re business savvy, they’re well-equipped for this. They’re going to be all in to win. This is Major League Baseball, and the situations are uneven between franchises and there are economics involved that are tricky. But this is a phenomenal ownership group.”

Gone are the days when the Orioles could promise future success and settle for losing in the present. Fans endured a long rebuild and now expect their patience to be rewarded with championship parades. For the Orioles to get there, they must solve the question of why their roster hasn’t had enough to win in the playoffs the past two years. They have four months to do it before another spring training arrives.

“This has not been an easy task rebuilding this franchise with the backdrop of everything, franchise level, that we’ve been dealing with,” Elias said. “I think we’ve brought it to a very impressive point, but it’s time to get over a new hump.”

Have a news tip? Contact Matt Weyrich at mweyrich@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/ByMattWeyrich.